Concerns about how Williams handles sexual misconduct allegations

Williams College is coming under scrutiny for the way it handles sexual assault allegations, after a former student came forward with her story about how her alleged rapist was let off with a three semester suspension and may return to campus in the fall. The story is another front in the very upsetting topic that is roiling higher education, about the best way to protect victims and fairly judge the accused.

The story emerged on Monday with a report by Boston public radio station WBUR. Not to sound like a Journalism 101 scold, but the report had very few independently verifiable facts. They simply passed on allegations from one side, while everyone else helplessly insists that they can’t discuss what was supposed to have been a confidential process. The report avoids the uncomfortable fact that even accused rapists have rights.

So as the foundation for an important conversation, this is flawed. The former student reveals certain details of her situation that merit more scrutiny — perhaps the college could have been more sensitive in its housing arrangements, and the alleged harassing behavior of the accused’s friends should certainly be taken seriously. But there is the danger of leaping to conclusions — it is easy, without knowing both sides of the story, to express incredulity that mere suspension rather than expulsion is an option for students who the college’s own process has determined to be guilty. But the college’s official statement is very carefully worded: “As is the case at most colleges, it has not been the policy at Williams to impose mandatory expulsion for every finding of every type of sexual misconduct.” That is an acknowledgement that many of these cases are murky, as uncomfortable as it is to say so.

This very important conversation needs to be more than “colleges and universities aren’t doing things right and need to do more.” That’s the easy part.

The Williams Record followed up on the story, and their report includes an interesting quote from Professor, EJ Johnson: “I don’t know why the College thinks of rape the way it thinks of plagiarism. To me, those are not equivalent sins.”

That’s a critical question. We all agree that rape and sexual assault is a crime, so why isn’t it being treated as a crime? why are college adminstrators bearing the burden of investiating and prosecuting these cases in the first place? If the case involves two young adults who are not privileged enough to be at a residential college, it is entirely a law enforcement issue, with a different and set of options and consequences.

The current system that colleges use seems to have been devised with the best interests of everyone at heart. To protect students from the rigors of a legal process that can be terrifying and difficult (look no further than the farcical way rape accusations against Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston were handled), to ensure due process for the accused, and perhaps not significiantly, to protect institutions from the kind of publicity and scrutiny these cases attract. But it’s a process that may have outlived its usefulness.

This is clearly a question more about society and culture. We have to ensure we have a law enforcement system that respects and protects victims while being fair to the accused. We also have to work much harder to create a culture of respect in which people aren’t selfish monsters to each other. But that’s the hard part.